Janet Yellen's Humphrey-Hawkins testimony begins. On
Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will appear before the House
Financial Services Committee as part of her semiannual
Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on Capitol Hill. Yellen's prepared
remarks will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, and her session before
Congress will kick off at 10 a.m. ET. At the testimony, Yellen
will give her thoughts on the US economy and explain the
rationale for the Fed's interest-rate hike in December. On
Thursday, Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

The US dollar is near a 3-1/2-month low. The US
Dollar Index is holding just above 96.00, its lowest level since
late October. Recent volatility in global markets has pushed back
expectations of additional Fed interest-rate hikes, taking the
steam out of the US Dollar Index, which climbed 6% from
mid-October to the end of January. There is now less than a 50%
probability of a Fed rate hike at any meeting through at least
February 2017.

$6 trillion worth of government debt has a negative
yield. Two years ago, none of the global sovereign
debt market had a negative yield. Today, more than $6 trillion
worth of sovereign debt has a negative yield, according to data
from JPMorgan that tracks 27 major issuers. The total amount of
sovereign debt yielding less than zero has doubled in just more
than a month.

Wall Street has had a tough time trading in the first
quarter. Speaking at the Credit Suisse Financial
Services forum, Ted Pick, the global head of sales and
trading at Morgan Stanley, acknowledged that trading had become
more difficult after an "OK" start to the year. While trading
volumes are up for both stocks and bonds, Pick believes it's not
the right kind of volume. As for the market, it feels
"oversold as a technical matter, but it is hard to have
conviction, and for that reason managers are playing close to
shore,"he said.

Disney
crushed estimates thanks to 'Star Wars' but is lower because of
ESPN. Disney reported its best quarterly results
ever thanks to the success of "Star Wars: The Force
Awakens." The company earned an adjusted $1.63 a share, easily
beating the $1.45 expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Revenue of
$15.2 billion topped the consensus estimate of $14.73 billion.
The quarter was highlighted by an 86% surge to $1 billion of
operating income for Disney's entertainment segment thanks to the
box-office hit "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." But investors have
been more focused on the 5% drop in earnings at ESPN. Shares of
Disney are down 2.5% in early trade.

Elon Musk's SolarCity is getting destroyed on weak
guidance. SolarCity announced an adjusted loss of
$2.37 a share on revenue of $115.48 million. While both numbers
topped estimates, it's the company's weak guidance that has
everyone talking. According to SolarCity's release, the company
expects a "Non-GAAP Loss Per Share (before Income (Loss)
Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests and Redeemable
Noncontrolling Interests)* between ($2.55) - ($2.65)..." Shares
of SolarCity are getting destroyed, down 29% in premarket action.

There might be another acquisition in the beer
industry. The Japanese brewer Asahi has offered 400
billion yen ($3.5 billion) for SABMiller's Peroni and Grolsch
labels, according to Nikkei. A deal would give Asahi two top
European lagers and would make for its largest overseas
acquisition ever. While Asahi wouldn't confirm the report, it
said it was "studying a variety of possibilities for a
capital and business tie-up, including this case."

Stock markets around the world are mixed.
European markets are higher for the first time in eight days, led
by Spain's IBEX (+3.5%). Overnight, Japan's Nikkei (-2.3%) paced
the decline. S&P 500 futures are higher by 17.50 points at
1,865.75.

Earnings reports continue to flow. Time Warner
is the most notable name to report ahead of the opening bell.
Cisco Systems, Tesla Motors, Twitter, and Whole Foods top the
list of companies releasing their quarterly results after markets
close.

US economic data remains light. Crude-oil
inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET, and the Treasury
budget will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET. The Treasury will hold
a $23 billion 10-year-note auction at 1 p.m. ET. The US 10-year
yield is up 3 basis points at 1.75%.